Digging up Dirt on Annan

[Connolly]

Outgoing "secretary general" Annan will be, no doubt, remembered in good light, and as a man of "peace".

Probably something to do with his "butter wouldnt melt in my mouth" image and soft toned voice. Dont fall for it.

Let me dig up some dirt on him, from a book called "America Rules" by an Irish man Tom Hanahoe (highly recommended).

The following are of relevence:

(1) "Heading the United Nations was Kofi Annan from Ghana, Washingtons choice for the UN post. Annans ties to the US began in the late 1950's when he was talent-spotted by the Ford Foundation which had helped fund the Trilateral Commission in its early years as part of its programme for identifying and nurturing potential future leaders. A Ford Foundation grant enabled him to study at Macalaster College in Minnesota. (Established in 1936, the foundation's funds derive from an investment portfolio that began with gifts and bequests of Ford Motor Company stock by the company's founder Henry Ford and his son Edsel.) Rockefellerian elites under Annan included UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy (CFR), the UN high commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson (Trilateral Commission)............"(P98)

(2)".....In September 1997, the UNA-USA hosted a function in New York at which US media billionaire Ted Turner announced that he planned to "donate" 1 billion USD to the United nations over a ten year period, the single largest philanthropic pledge ever made anywhere in the world. UN Secrety-General Kofi Annan, whose college education in the US from 1959 to 1961 was sponsored by the Ford Foundation, expressed his hope that the gift marked the start of a "new and promising relationship" between the UN and the private sector.
The UNA-USA is an elitist body. Like its major sponsor, the ford foundation, the UNA-USA has ties to corporate USA and is dominated by Rokefeller-Linked figures"(P155)

(3)"..........President Clinton was also an advocate of closer UN corporate ties, enthusing about "the potential for partnership between the UN and the private sector"". Kofi Annan was also an advocate of closer ties. In a period of just over two years after taking office, the UN secretary general addressed a meetings of the corporate dominated World Economic Forum on three occasions, advocating "a creative partnership between the UN and the private sector". In January 1999, during his third address to the forum, he proposed a global compact between business and the UN which would "give a human face to the market". He proposed that the corporate sector should "embrace, support and enact a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, and environmental practices....I chose thes three areas because they are the ones where I feel that, if we do not act, there may be a threat to the open global market, and especially to the multilateral trade regime.
Critics condemed the UN's proposed engagement with the corporate sector, warning that it threatened the mission and integrity of the UN. The compact encourages corporate self regulation, rather than legally binding regulation, in respect to upholding human rights and environmental standards.
The Ford Foundation and the UNA-USA help to promote Washingtons pro corporate foreign policy, through influencing the direction of the UN agenda. However, an analysis of the two organizations UN roles can only provide us with a hint of the overall influence wielded within the entire UN system by corporate and Rockefeller-linked bodies and individuals."(P157)

(4)"........Later, when Kofi Annan needed a coordinator for a programme aimed at radically reforming the UN, he opted for Strong [Morice F. Strong]. A multimillionaire industrialist whose wealth derived from the oil, gas and energy industries, Strong was a member of David Rockefellers Trilateral Commission in its early years and a trustee of the Roickefeller foundation"(P158)

[Connolly]

Here is the latest news report:

New UN secretary-general takes charge

01/01/2007 - 15:18:50

South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-moon took the reins of the UN today as the world body's eighth secretary-general.

He now faces a tough array of global issues to confront - from escalating violence in Darfur and rising Mideast tensions to combating Aids and poverty.

The 62-year-old career diplomat, who grew up during a war that left his country divided, has promised to make peace with North Korea a top priority.

He said he will travel there when necessary and cautioned that the reclusive communist nation must be talked to - and not just punished with sanctions for conducting a nuclear test.

The US is certain to press Ban to undertake more widespread management reforms at the UN, begun by his predecessor Kofi Annan whose 10-year tenure as secretary-general ended at midnight.

The 192-member General Assembly, which controls the UN budget and oversees its management, has been reluctant to institute changes that Annan and many experts say are essential to modernise the 61-year-old world body because the majority of UN member states fear losing the only real power the assembly has.

In a speech after taking the oath of office as secretary-general on December 14, Ban said he will also work to strengthen the three pillars of the UN - security, development and human rights - to build "a more peaceful, more prosperous and more just world for succeeding generations".

In pursuing that goal, he said, "my first priority will be to restore trust" in the UN, whose reputation has been battered by the oil-for-food scandal in Iraq, corruption in the UN's purchasing operations, and sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers.

"I will seek to act as a harmoniser and bridge-builder," Ban said. "And I hope to become known … as a secretary-general who is accessible, hard-working and prepared to listen attentively."

Ban officially became secretary-general at the stroke of midnight, but no official ceremony was scheduled.

Ban is temporarily residing at a hotel. He will not get to move into his official residence - an 85-year-old neo-Georgian town house on New York's fashionable Sutton Place overlooking the East River - until renovations, the first since 1950, are completed.

The General Assembly recently approved $4.9m (€3.7m) to modernise the residence's heating, air conditioning, plumbing, kitchen and security, which is expected to take about nine months.

Ban defeated six other candidates vying to be the UN chief and won final approval from the General Assembly in October. Since then, he has been meeting with a wide range of people inside and outside the UN to prepare for the job.

On Sunday, Ban was already taking charge.

He announced his first two appointments - veteran Indian diplomat Vijay Nambiar, who has been a special adviser to Annan, as his chief of staff, and award-winning Haitian journalist Michele Montas, the head of the French unit of UN Radio, as his spokesperson.

Ban said in a statement yesterday that he will be making more appointments in the coming days.

The most important will be his choice for deputy secretary-general - widely expected to be a woman from a developing country.

The new secretary-general's first day at UN headquarters will be tomorrow, when he plans to hold a meeting with UN staff after an official welcome and sit for his official portrait.

Ban will be the first Asian to lead the organisation in 35 years since Burma's U Thant, who served from 1961-71. It will also mark a milestone for South Korea which only joined the UN in 1991 and still has UN troops on the tense border with North Korea.

In his acceptance speech to the General Assembly in October, Ban said it was "quite fitting" that an Asian had been selected to lead the UN.

"Asia is dynamic and diverse, and Asia aspires to take on greater responsibilities for the world," he said. "Having come so far and rising still, the region is living and shaping the full range of achievements and challenges of our current times."

Ban noted that modesty is a virtue in Asia but that doesn't mean a lack of commitment or leadership.

"Rather, it is quiet determination in action to get things done without so much fanfare," he said. "This may be the key to Asia's success, and to the UN's future."

"We should be more modest in our words, but not in our performance," Ban said.

"The true measure of success for the UN is not how much we promise, but how much we deliver for those who need us most."